Uganda Scheme Facts for Kids

A newspaper from 1903 showing Theodor Herzl and a greeting for the opening of the Sixth Zionist Congress.

The Uganda Scheme was an idea from British politician Joseph Chamberlain. He suggested creating a Jewish homeland in a part of British East Africa. This idea was presented in 1903 by Theodor Herzl at the Sixth World Zionist Congress in Basel. Herzl was the founder of the modern Zionist movement. He saw it as a temporary safe place for Jews to escape the growing hatred against them in Europe. However, both the Zionist movement and the British Colony did not fully support the plan.

Why the British Offered Land
- British Interests in East Africa
History of the Offer
In Books and Stories
See also

Why the British Offered Land

British Interests in East Africa

The British were very active in the "Scramble for Africa" to protect their interests. They wanted to control trade, stop the East African Slave trade, and secure routes to India. They also competed with Germany and France for land. To control East Africa, they set up the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) in 1888, led by William Mackinnon.

The IBEA company faced many problems. It had poor roads, money troubles, and bad management. By 1895, it started to fail. So, the British government took over and created a protectorate. They built the Uganda Railway to help trade in the area. This railway cost a lot of money, about £5.2 million. But it did not bring in as much money as they hoped. This, plus the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, made the British government worried. They thought bringing more people to the protectorate could help with their money problems.

Here are the main reasons why the British offered land to the Zionists:

They wanted to control how many Jewish refugees came to the United Kingdom. This was after violent attacks (pogroms) in Eastern Europe. They wanted to protect British workers.
The Uganda Railway needed to make money to pay off its debt. The Zionists could bring money and people to the protectorate.
The British hoped to get Jewish support for their plans in South Africa after the Boer War.
They also truly cared about the safety of Jews in Eastern Europe, especially after the Kishinev pogrom.

History of the Offer

"A Good Place for Dr. Herzl"

Joseph Chamberlain and Theodor Herzl knew each other through the Rothschild brothers. Herzl first suggested that Jews could settle in Cyprus, the Sinai peninsula, or El Arish. But Chamberlain thought these places were not suitable. They were either already lived in or not fully controlled by Britain. Still, he agreed to discuss the El Arish plan with Lord Lansdowne, the Foreign Secretary. Chamberlain believed it could gain support from Jewish people worldwide for Britain.

Chamberlain traveled to South Africa in late 1902. On his way, he stopped in Mombasa, East Africa. There, British settlers complained that the government was not attracting enough hardworking people. This made the railway less profitable. While traveling on the Uganda Railway, Chamberlain saw parts of East Africa that he thought were suitable for Europeans. He then thought, "This would be just the country for Dr. Herzl." He even suggested the idea of a Jewish homeland in East Africa to Herzl. However, he did not push the idea, thinking Herzl would only be interested in Palestine.

Early Talks

At first, Herzl was not interested in the East Africa offer. He was focused on Palestine and the areas around it. But everything changed after the Kishinev pogrom, a terrible attack on Jews. After this, Herzl worked even harder to find a Jewish homeland. Leopold Greenberg was Herzl's main helper in these talks. They hoped to get official recognition from Great Britain, which would be very important politically. Even though East Africa had no special meaning for Jews, this plan seemed the most likely to succeed.

Greenberg got a letter from the British government. It said they were willing to create a Jewish colony with a lot of land. This colony would have its own local government and religious freedom, but still be under British control. Herzl presented this offer at the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel in 1903. The Congress voted to send a group to East Africa to check out the land. 295 delegates voted yes, and 178 voted no.

How People Reacted

Herzl's announcement caused a big argument. Some delegates felt it was a betrayal of the Basel Program, which focused on Palestine. The disagreement almost split the Zionist organization. Some delegates from Eastern Europe even walked out of the meeting. Others said they no longer trusted Herzl. The meeting was very emotional, with some people crying and one student fainting.

Herzl promised everyone that Palestine would always be the main goal. He even threatened to resign to keep the organization together. He thought the strong feelings for Palestine were amazing, but the reaction was too much. "These people have a rope around their necks, but they still refuse," Herzl said. Despite worries about the East Africa plan, many Jewish people were willing to take the chance, especially after the Kishinev attacks. However, some leaders, like Reverend Dr. Moses Gaster and Lucien Wolf, strongly opposed the plan. They believed it went against the true goals of Zionism.

The offer also caused problems in the British colony. The white British settlers were very against the idea. They formed the "Anti-Zionist Immigration Committee." They rejected the plan through their newspaper, the African Standard. They felt that poor British people deserved the land more than Jews. They also worried about how the local African people would react to Jewish immigrants. There were also concerns about giving a special area to a new group, especially after problems in Canada with the Doukhobors. People also doubted if Jews could be successful farmers. The British media also spoke out against the plan. We don't know how the local African people felt about the offer. The Indian people who helped build the Uganda Railway did not completely reject it.

The Zionist Trip to East Africa

In December 1904, the Zionist Organization sent a special group to Guas Ngishu in East Africa. Their job was to see if the land was good for Jewish settlement. The group included Major Alfred St Hill Gibbons, a British explorer; Alfred Kaiser, a Swiss expert; and Nachum Wilbush, a Zionist engineer.

Their final reports had some differences, especially about the climate. But the main reason the plan was rejected in 1905 was because of opposition from a former high commissioner of East Africa and the white settlers there. Because of this, the British government took back their offer.

What Happened Next

Even though the East Africa plan was rejected in 1905, it was a very important moment in Zionist history. It led to the idea of "territorialism." This meant finding a place for Jews anywhere in the world, even if it wasn't the Land of Israel. This idea led to the creation of the Jewish Territorial Organisation (ITO).

In Books and Stories

The story of the 1904 trip and an imagined Jewish state in Uasin Gishu is in Lavie Tidhar's short story "Uganda." It is part of his 2007 book HebrewPunk.
Adam Rovner's book "What If the Jewish State Had Been Established in East Africa" is a travel guide for a made-up Jewish homeland called New Judea in Uganda. It won an award in 2016 for alternate history.
In Lavie Tidhar's 2018 novel Unholy Land, a Jewish state called Palestina is created in Africa. This happens after the 1904 trip gives a good report. The book was nominated for several awards.

Uganda Scheme facts for kids

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